A Bartles Day

What a day it has been! Brian was supposed to be back this evening, but was delayed and missed his San Fran connection. It took United six hours to find his bags and get him into a hotel. He has a flight to Tokyo tomorrow, but no flight to Okinawa! We are not sure how long it will be before he can get a flight out. He could have to wait until the end of the week. That is one check mark in the con column of living on a little island.
While Brian was having fun with the airlines, I was having just as much fun here at home. I picked up Dionna for a quick errand off base this morning. As I was dropping her off at her house, I noticed that my car's high temperature warning light was blinking. Thank goodness she took a car repair class in college just for fun(stroke of luck #1). We discovered that the coolant reservoir was empty and things were pretty hot. She called her husband, who is a crew chief for the fighters (that means he knows a thing or two about engines, stroke of luck #2), and he was able to come home and check it out as well. He added some coolant and I called Payless Motors. The car is under warranty (stroke of luck #3) and they sent someone out to tow the car to the shop. It took about four hours before they were able to come, however I was in air conditioned comfort with a good friend (stroke of luck #4). Our tow truck driver spoke no English at all, but somehow we all communicated and got everything where it needed to go, people signed on/off base, etc. Dionna was a dear and after dedicating her whole afternoon to our problem, she drove us home. In a final stroke of luck (and irony, I guess), since Brian is delayed I can drive the Skyline and be independant until the Dion is fixed. Craziness!